Is James Bond Still Bond Without His Classic Lines?

While I’m still very excited about the upcoming James Bond flick Quantum of Solace, I was disappointed to hear that a couple of classic lines will be missing from the film. It’s being reported that this will be the first James Bond film in which our hero does NOT utter the introductory phrase:

“Bond. James Bond.”

Even in Casino Royale Daniel Craig said that line once.

Another line that will be missing is the famous “shaken, not stirred” when he orders his favorite drink – a martini.

Now remember I really loved Casino Royale, which gave a much-needed reboot to the Bond franchise. Daniel Craig is now my second favorite, behind Sean Connery. Even with Pierce Brosnan adding his furrowed brow and grim expression, the series was still a bit silly with the gadgets and silly leading lady names (and casting Halle Berry as one of them didn’t help, either).

So gone are the gadgets, Miss Moneypenney, and even “Q,” the fellow who provided Mr. Bond with all those outrageous toys.

But no “Bond. James Bond.”????

Is an agent of SPECTRE behind this?

Director Marc Forster told The Independent:

“There was a ‘Bond, James Bond’ in the script. There are several places where we shot it as well, but it never worked as we hoped. I just felt we should cut it out, and Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson [the film’s producers] agreed, and Daniel [Craig, who plays Bond] agreed, too. It’s nice to be open-minded about the Bond formula. You can always go back to them later on.”

I’ll admit (shamefully) that I haven’t read a single Ian Fleming book, so I don’t know what the tone of the James Bond series is like in its original format. I understand that Casino Royale was actually much closer to the tone of the books than the campy films that the series morphed into.

Forster went on to add:

“His announcing of himself had become a bit corny. Casino Royale gets back to the spirit of the books, rather than all the silliness.”

I’m sorry, but books or no books, I disagree. That line wasn’t corny – it was cool and smooth as hell as far as I’m concerned. And with the martini thing, I noticed he didn’t specify how he wanted it made in the last film, but I was hoping to hear the line in this one.

On a happier note, Ain’t It Cool Newshas a bunch of new images from the movie (click on the image below to check them out). We also have a new poster for the film for you as well thanks to Coming Soon.

Daniel Craig in Quantum of Solace

Quantum of Solace poster featuring Daniel Craig & Olga Kurylenko

Like I said, I’m still extremely stoked for this film, but I’m saddened by the bits they’re leaving out. I hope they at least use the familiar theme music in this one since it was only heard in the closing seconds of the previous film.